Reuters/Albert Gea
- Police move in at Paris airport
- Allegations of allowing crimes
- Elon Musk claims free speech attack
Pavel Durov, the Russian-born billionaire founder and owner of the Dubai-based Telegram messaging app, was arrested at Le Bourget airport, Paris shortly after landing on a private jet late on Saturday, and placed in custody, three sources have told Reuters.
Durov, 39, who has dual French and UAE citizenship, was arrested as part of a preliminary police investigation into allegedly allowing a wide range of crimes because of a lack of moderators on Telegram, and a lack of cooperation with police, a third French police source said.
His arrest prompted a warning from Moscow to Paris that he should be accorded his rights, and criticism from Elon Musk, the owner of the messaging service X, who claimed that free speech in Europe was “under attack”.
The encrypted application, with close to 1 billion users, is particularly influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the former Soviet Union.
There was no official confirmation from France of the arrest, but two French police sources and one Russian source who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Durov, who is estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of $15.5 billion was arrested shortly after arriving at Le Bourget on a private jet from Azerbaijan.
Telegram said in a statement on the arrest: “Telegram abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act — its moderation is within industry standards and constantly improving.”